Need recommendation for small bait/spin casting reel

fast14riot

fast14riot

Joined
Oct 27, 2010
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I picked up another light action spinning rod today at Sports Authority, a South Bend Microlight casting rod for $9.99 and will be moving my new vintage Zebco 33 over to it, so now my other recent rod purchase is a 5'6" medium fast casting rod that will need a new reel. I'd like to get something in the $30 range new or used but is a reasonably light and compact reel. Left hand would be nice, but isn't absolutely mandatory, though a high priority.

It will be used mainly for float tube and over grown bank fishing with jigs up to 1/2 oz, also Texas rigged soft baits. I have other rigs for big crank baits and hard casting, heavy jigs, and big blade spinners.

I'd prefer to spend money on a used reel as you generally get more for your money, and would spend more for the right reel. So, what should I look for?


-Xander
 
Look around for a used Abu 4500 or 4600.
I have a 1981 4600 that is still going strong and a new magged version CX(?)4600 that is the bees knees.

A used one should be about your price and they are easy to work on and parts are easily found.
 
Thanks Ebb, I've been wondering about the less expensive Abu reels, I've seen a ton of them on ebay, but didn't know if they were any good or not.


-X
 
You are welcome.
Just stick to the standard numbered models and away from the really low budget Abus like the F•I•V•E.
I learned that the hard way... most of the drag stack was filled with a big plastic shim instead of washers.



The red one is the 4600, two silver are 5500's and the green is a 6600 mag.
The black one in the back is the F•I•V•E

left to right for size comparison 4600, 5600, 6600
 
I found a 4600 for under $30 shipped, but I don't get paid until next week. Looks like one of these will fit the bill nicely. Much better than the cheap shakespeare reels. Although, the Chinese ones all over the net seem to get decent reviews for the price, better than some similarly priced "name brand" models too. But, hard to beat an ambassador reel!


-Xander
 
Well today at the flea market I found another vintage Zebco 33 for $1.00! It barely moved and was filthy, but everything was there. So after an hour or two I had it all cleaned up and functioning properly. The drag is a bit stiff, but I put some 8# test on it for now. I still plan on getting a bait casting reel for this rod, but for a buck it's hard to pass up another zebco.

The drag should loosen up a bit with some use, so it will eventually be put into the light rod rotation after I get (most likely) an Abu 4600.


-Xander
 
I'm going to check the reel tonight after work to see how the pent rating oil has worked on getting into the drag spindle. Hopefully it's fairly good now, once it got into it, it loosened right up but was a little jerky.


-Xander
 
I know little about baitcasting, but when shopping last year I found good value in the Bass Pro brand reels. The build quality is just as good as similar name-brand products, and the store brand models offered more features for the price.

Specifically, I selected a Bass Pro Johnny Morris CarbonLite XPS reel. It's super lightweight, if that's important to you, and all of the knobs and mechanisms are flawlessly smooth. Although it's very small and very lightweight, it matched up well to a 7' med-heavy fast-action rod from St Croix that was on sale.

Youtube advertisement video that highlights the features: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVt7eDIL5Rc
 
Bob, I agree with you. I have a Bass Pro Rick Clunn reel on a 1pc 7' Garcia Ambassadeur medium heavy rod. I've had it for about 4 or 5 years now and it is a great reel. Price was nice and I could get it in left hand.

I will keep looking though.


-X
 
I would look for a baitcasting reel on clearance . Look for Abus , Lews , Diawa , Quantum , Shimano... You can always Google it for reviews . Last year I bought a reel from Dicks with a Dicks label. I used it once and left it at the lake for someone else .It was a piece of junk. The Bass Pro Shop Pro Qualifier is a good reel . Keep an eye on it . They are often on sale and sometimes offered in a combo ,
 
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Heres my old Abus . I just traded ten of them for three new reels some lures and a knife . I kept the two newer 4600's and the 3600 Morrum .

 
I have picked up three Shimano Curados for 25 dollars a piece on clearance. An Abu Garcia Pro Max 1600c for twenty five dollars and 3600c Black Max for twenty dollars that were the display models. I have three Quantum 1310's , fantastic reels for twenty dollars each that were on clearance ..
 
I've been looking around a bit lately, but I just bought a new spinning reel for my custom rod project. I did find a decent BPS brand XPS left hand casting reel at the flea market, but it needed new bearings and the spool was very scratched up. Side plate was cracked a tiny bit too, although he wanted $15 I felt it was too much for what it was. Nothing wrong with those reels, I have a similar one and its been great for over 4 years now.

I do appreciate the ideas though, gives me more options though.

-Xander
 
Well I "found" this reel at my dad's house the other day and he said he's never going to use it or where he even got it for that matter! I just went through it completely and it's in fairly decent shape. It has zero bearings but the bushings throughout are in good shape with minimal play. Took all the varnished grease out, replaced with my favorite flavors of light and super heavy oil (no grease) and everything is nice and smooth. It will be interesting to see how well it casts. Amazing what a few drops of oil will do! It does have 5 drag discs though, so that's a bonus. Second time I put it back together it now works nicely!

20150727_225443_RichtoneHDR_zpsrsuirpok.jpg


I still want an Abu or some other nicer reel, but for a freebie I'm not gonna complain too bad!


-Xander
 
I wouldn't be surprised if you could get bearings to fit the bushing housings.
A-bec or abec would be a good search word :)
 
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